US THAAD system ‘in place’ in Israel

The US’s THAAD anti-missile system is ‘in place’ in Israel after the US rushed its delivery to the country, according to the Arab News via Reuters.
The news was revealed by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on October 21st. “The THAAD system is in place,” he said to reporters before his trip in Ukraine later the same day. He refused to say whether it was operational, but added: “We have the ability to put it into operation very quickly and we’re on pace with our expectations.”
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THAAD, an acronym for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, is a key part of the US military’s layered air defence systems, and adds anther anti-missile defence to Israel’s already formidable collection.
President Joe Biden said the deployment, along with the sending of around 100 US soldiers, was intended to defend Israel, which is expected to launch an attack against Iran following Tehran’s missile attack on Israel on October 1st.
Officials say the US has ben urging Israel to calibrate its response to prevent a regional war, and Biden has publicly voiced his opposition to an attack on Iranian nuclear sites. Biden told reporters last week he had a good understanding of when and how Israel would strike Iran, but that he also said he saw a chance to end the back-and-forth attacks.
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When asked, Lloyd Austin stated. “It’s hard to say exactly what that (Israel’s) strike will look like.” He added “at the end of the day, that’s an Israeli decision, and whether or not the Israelis believe it’s proportional and how the Iranians perceive it, I mean those may be two different things… We’re going to do — continue to do — everything we can… to dial down the tensions and hopefully get both parties to begin to de-escalate. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Reuters